Starbucks Introduces Its Version Of Coffee With Whiskey

A woman prepares beans to be ground at a Starbucks coffeehouse in Austin, Texas, U.S., February 11, 2017. The coffee giant has recently introduced coffee infused with whiskey.
REUTERS/Mohammad Khursheed

Yes, you heard it right. It is now possible for you to enjoy whiskey at Starbucks in the morning. Well, sort of. The company has recently introduced new barrel aged coffee that has been infused with whiskey.

The secret is in the barrels

Starbucks has made it possible by hand scooping a batch of its unroasted Starbucks Reserve Sulawesi beans into American Oak-Aged Whiskey barrels from Woodinville Whiskey, Co. that has been recently emptied. Over the course of several weeks, the coffee beans end up absorbing all that amazing whiskey flavor. What's more, these beans are rotated by hand frequently so that Starbucks is sure the coffee is coming into contact with the oak barrel nicely. The process takes time, care and patience, ensuring we deliver a distinct experience that stays true to the specialness of the coffee while imparting the complementary, distinguished flavor of the oak-aged barrel," Starbucks R&D man Duane Thompson said in a statement.

Thompson himself is a man who knows his way around barrels. After all, he has been practicing barrel aging as a hobby for the past four years. He has been so serious about it that he's got a handful of barrels in his own garage. " As a chef and a food scientist, experimentation is central to my being," Thompson explained.

After the beans have aged, they get roasted by none other than Starbucks master roasters. During this process, the alcohol gets burned off. " However, you still get the unique flavor and aroma of the whiskey in the coffee. And this results in a truly special cup of coffee that is known as the Starbucks Whiskey Barrel Aged Sulawesi. " You get those earthy notes mingling with the oak to create a cup that’s unlike any other," Thompson remarked.

Enjoy whiskey infused coffee several ways

To enjoy the new Whiskey Barrel Aged Sulawesi, Starbucks is offering its customers a couple of options. For starters, there is the Barrel Aged Cold Brew. Here the slow steeped Whiskey Barrel Aged Sulawesi coffee gets sweetened with some vanilla syrup in a carafe. It then gets served as a sidecar along with a glass with a large cube of ice. "The cold-brewing allows for more caramel flavor to come through from the barrel, along with the vanilla, for a beautifully rounded beverage," Thompson remarked.

Aside from this, there is also the hot Barrel Aged Con Crema. Here, hot pour-over Whiskey Barrel-Aged Sulawesi is mixed with vanilla syrup that is also barrel-aged. It is then topped with some cascara sugar cold-foam topping. Indeed, you can now enjoy whiskey in the morning and not have to feel guilty about it!

What do you think of Starbucks' new whiskey infused coffee? Let us know in the comments section below.

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